1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of sporting equipment, more particularly to golf clubs, and still more particularly to golf putters.
2. Background Discussion
Most golfers are likely to agree that putting is a very difficult and frustrating part of the game of golf. In fact, as Sunday TV viewers can testify, most golf tournaments are won or lost on the putting greens. It is particularly frustrating on a par 3 hole to get on the green with one stroke and then take four strokes to get the ball in the cup.
That the putting phase of the golf game is difficult and frustrating to most golfers is evidenced by the large variety of golf putters that are on the market. In the course of several years of playing golf, a typical golfer may have at most two sets of golf clubs, but may have as many as four or five putters. After a particularly bad day on the greens, an old putter may be discarded in favor of a new putter that the golfer thinks may improve his or her greens game.
Also, more so than regular golf clubs, putters tend to be more personalized to a golfer-they may be given names and may be talked to even.
One difficulty with a greens game is that putting distances may vary greatly from twenty or thirty feet to a only few inches. Long putting distances require a hard hit ball to make the ball travel the distance, and short putting distances require a softly hit ball.
It can thus be appreciated that like the driving portion of the golf game that often requires the use of several different clubs with different face slants and weights, a good greens game can require the use of more than one putter to gain a competitive advantage--at least a long distance putter and a short distance putter. Each of such kinds of putters can be expected to have different features just as different driving clubs have different features tailored to particular types of situations and lay of the golf ball.
Various patents have been granted for different types of golf putters. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,638 to Tucker discloses a metal golf putter head to which can be attached a plastic face that is intended to provide a greater rebound of a hit golf ball than the metal club itself, i.e., a face having a rebound factor in excess of 50%, with greater than 60% preferred. U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,778 to Douglas discloses a golf putter having a resilient, laminated plastic at the face of a metal club. The inner layer of the insert is disclosed as having a hardness less than the outer layer which has a hardness equal to or greater than the hardness of golf balls. The disclosed intent is to apply a small contact area to a putted golf ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,792 to Straza, et al., discloses a metal golf putter head having an epoxy-filled honeycomb striking face with open ends of the honeycomb facing a ball to be putted, the expressed intent being to provide a resilient impact surface that will impart increased momentum to a putted ball while requiring only a short back swing.
The present Inventor considers that all heretofore known golf putters have some disadvantages, a common disadvantage often being that a putted ball is given too much momentum and thus poor control over short putting distances. The Inventor considers that instead of a relatively "soft" stroke imparting substantial momentum to a putted ball, it is more advantageous during short putts for a putter head to be relatively "dead" so that the individual does not have to pull his or her stroke to keep from overdistancing the ball.
Additionally, a typical golfer will normally prefer a more active feel to his putter as his skill improves with time. In other words, a neophyte or unskilled golfer tends to be more comfortable with a longer duration of contact between the ball and the club on impact, so that he experiences a sensation of substantial traction, while an accomplished professional golfer prefers a harder, more positive "feel" when his club head strikes the ball. Not surprisingly, a golfer of intermediate skill would choose a club head hardness in between "high traction"0 and "live contact".
None of the prior art patents disclose chemically compounding the club head material to adjust rebound factor while maintaining a fixed level of hardness.
For these and other reasons, the present Inventor has invented an improved golf putter cushioned head designed to be used either interchangeably in a single putter, or to be fixed in a putter that is one of a set of such putters, each of which heads is considered to provide excellent golfer-selected control and feel of the ball for a particular golfer and tailored to a specific range of putting distances.